- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
Very smart
is there a big enough door to get your caravan inside?
is there a big enough door to get your caravan inside?
Farmer Roy's Random Thoughts - I never said it was easy.
- Thread starter Farmer Roy
- Start date
Steel
Member
- Location
- Finley, Riverina, Australia
Got back from our norther NSW tour yesterday. Most of the time was spent around Moree looking to cotton irrigation. Some impressive places and huge farms.
On the last day we visited a 640 acre place on the Macquarie Marshes bought by irrigation farmers. The irrigation farmers bought it to make it open to the public and show how healthy the marshes are. Before this there was no public access to the marshes and environmentalists claimed irrigation farmers were taking all the water and destroying it. The owners of the marshes graze cattle on the marshes and the bigger area flooded the more grazing they get, so also claim upstream irrigators are taking all the water. They have built 2 km of raised walk ways so people can access the marshes and see how healthy it is when stock are removed.
At the Narrabri research far one of their trials was cover crops. The mixed species cover sown over winter and killed before cotton sowing did not do well as the cover used a lot of the moisture.
The cerial rye early cover sown in late summer and killed in winter had time to build up moisture before sowing cotton. That cotton looked better than the cotton which had no cover.
On the last day we visited a 640 acre place on the Macquarie Marshes bought by irrigation farmers. The irrigation farmers bought it to make it open to the public and show how healthy the marshes are. Before this there was no public access to the marshes and environmentalists claimed irrigation farmers were taking all the water and destroying it. The owners of the marshes graze cattle on the marshes and the bigger area flooded the more grazing they get, so also claim upstream irrigators are taking all the water. They have built 2 km of raised walk ways so people can access the marshes and see how healthy it is when stock are removed.
At the Narrabri research far one of their trials was cover crops. The mixed species cover sown over winter and killed before cotton sowing did not do well as the cover used a lot of the moisture.
The cerial rye early cover sown in late summer and killed in winter had time to build up moisture before sowing cotton. That cotton looked better than the cotton which had no cover.
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
that’s the thing, in OUR environment & soils, while it is CRUCIAL to have groundcover, it is also CRUCIAL to be able to build up & store moisture prior to planting a crop. It is rare you would be able to plant into a green cover, at the correct timing, with a full profile - probably only in a wetter than average season. Going into a new crop without a full profile of moisture is like going into a fight with one arm tied behind your back.
I may be trying to justify fallow periods ( to build up soil moisture with dead covers, rather than planting into green cover ), but as our rainfall can be seasonal with extended dry periods being normal, with native plants shutting down or not growing, I do think a period of fallow does in someways replicate nature in having periods of no growing plants. The crucial thing is maintaining groundcover at all times & regular cropping sequences to keep the biology ticking along & happy.
I actually think our cropping sequences do in some way mimic the seasonal & “boom or bust” nature of our environment
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
Meanwhile, the bàrstàrd mice have gotten into the sweet corn in the garden
- Location
- southern riverina Australia
Seeing plenty around here too. Crows and hawks were having a field day today whilst I was mowing lucerne...
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
As I may have said, we have had to aerial bait the sorghum.
At this stage, the mungs are unaffected, but we are keeping a close eye on them. My agronomist was saying another crop he is looking at, that is a bit earlier than mine, was just starting to develop buds, & the mice were nipping them all off. Being such a quick growing / short crop, you can’t afford any loss of the “money making bits”
As I said earlier, I know someone who lost 1200 HECTARES of dry land cotton through mice damage, even though he aerial baited 3 times . . .
bàrstàrd f**king mice, along with all the other pests the white fellas brought to this country
At this stage, the mungs are unaffected, but we are keeping a close eye on them. My agronomist was saying another crop he is looking at, that is a bit earlier than mine, was just starting to develop buds, & the mice were nipping them all off. Being such a quick growing / short crop, you can’t afford any loss of the “money making bits”
As I said earlier, I know someone who lost 1200 HECTARES of dry land cotton through mice damage, even though he aerial baited 3 times . . .
bàrstàrd f**king mice, along with all the other pests the white fellas brought to this country
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
Christ, ya can't say that, setting yourself up for one of Ants rants
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
who ?
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
f**k the white fellas & all the shît they have brought here & all the damage they have done
Steel
Member
- Location
- Finley, Riverina, Australia
Building up here. One farm I have not had sheep on yet has lots of mice holes through the stubble, likely all containing baby mice. I’m getting new multi disk disks next week and I’m going chop the barstewards up and knock down their cover.
Our grain bags containing about 300 t of oats also have holes under them. Hope they have not bitten into the bags to let moisture in. I spread mouseoff bait around them yesterday.
- Location
- southern riverina Australia
I have a bad feeling about this autumn.....
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
We won’t be rid of them until we get some hard cold & wet weather . . .
a few months away yet . . .
it was autumn in ‘84 ( remember that link I posted earlier ) when it was at its peak.
We haven’t seen anything like that yet . . .
a few months away yet . . .
it was autumn in ‘84 ( remember that link I posted earlier ) when it was at its peak.
We haven’t seen anything like that yet . . .
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
We could do with some of your ice & cold spell here
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- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
Well, I’ve bought a replacement for Rupert, as a new “party car”
What I probably should have bought in the first place, an 80 Series ( 1997 ) Toyota Landcruiser wagon
What I probably should have bought in the first place, an 80 Series ( 1997 ) Toyota Landcruiser wagon
glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
Cultivating out their nests sounds good, it works for slugs
glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
Offer to do it for him
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
f**k yeah . They go good, proper tank! And easy to drink drive in
- Location
- Owaka, New Zealand
I reckon it's too late this year, mowing or spraying/wiping once they're flowered out?
glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
Mowing will reduce seed spread
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
f**k yeah, great old car for our dirt roads ( & the “party” budget doesn’t stretch to a new 200 series
)